Sunday, November 24, 2013

After a week of extremely wordy blogging, you now get a week of just a picture (or maybe two or three!) a day, potentially with a brief caption, for something completely different. I will try to choose just one or two pictures which capture our day. Enjoy!

Coffee/hot chocolate on a cold day and waiting for the Kinderconcert to begin.

Saturday, November 23, 2013

Yesterday morning started with another popsicle for Sam, on the condition that he would eat some of his yogurt along with it, thus, hopefully, modifying the effects of the sugar and causing better behaviour. He's been getting popsicles because he complains that his throat hurts in the morning and the cold makes it feel better. That kind of logic will get him a popsicle every time.

I packed Sam's lunch. Dave has been giving me a HUGE break this week and packing Sam's lunch and doing dishes the night before so I haven't done any dishes or packing of lunches this week. It's been like a vacation :) So yesterday I said I could do it.

After I was done packing Sam's lunch, he decided that his stomach hurt too much to go to school. I couldn't tell if he was legitimately unwell (he'd had a small bit of digestive upset the night before), or if he just wanted to play in the REALLY BIG BOX. So we set out some terms for the day (mainly a lengthy afternoon quiet time in his room) and I called the school.

Sam and Rachel then spent the next two and a half hours playing in the box.

First it was a hockey arena.

Then a classroom or letter sorting factory.

Then a restaurant. It was awesome!

During this time I read blogs, responded to blog comments (as you all might have been able to guess!), did some general tidying and organizing, and drank a whole bunch of tea. It was actually kind of peaceful. My original plan had been to go to the gym and put Rachel in childcare so it was nice to get a lot of small things done around the house.

I made the kids an egg carton lunch which Sam devoured and Rachel picked at. Then I tossed them both in the bath. They love having "both baths." I should clarify that, ever since I was pregnant with Rachel, Dave has done about 99.9% of the bathing, sometimes with me lending a supporting hand or two. So I always feel like I've accomplished a huge task when I bathe the kids on my own. (Note to my readers: Dave accomplishes this huge task on his own about three times a week while I do it about once a year. Maybe.)

After their bath, I put Rachel down for nap and Sam down for quiet time. He actually spent the entire two hours quietly in his room which led me to believe he was actually feeling a little unwell. It's sometimes a judgement call as to whether he's healthy enough for school or not, so I was glad that I felt like yesterday's decision was a good one.

Then I made myself a salad and read the rest of Allegiant for a good two hours. It was awesome. Allegiant made me cry though. I'm really glad that with this series, and The Hunger Games, I only found out about them right before the last book in the series came out so I never had to wait more than a few weeks between books. It's a good way to read a series :) Especially a really good one.

After the kids' quiet time/nap, it was time to eat supper. I made Kraft Dinner with tuna and peas and then we got ready for Rachel's preschool Family Celebration. The kids got snack bags and could do crafts, face painting and play some games. Then each preschool class performed a few songs. Rachel was all about hanging out with her teacher and looked slightly shell shocked up on stage, especially when everyone clapped.

We weren't particularly interested in anything from the Silent Auction but then, right at the end, Sam found a giant Cars puzzle which he really wanted so he wrote his name down and then stood guard so no one else could bid on it. Fortunately other interested parties understood his intense need to own this puzzle and didn't outbid him.

After Sam had won his item, Dave and the kids left and I stayed for about an extra hour to help clean up. I got a whole litre of cream and a bag of Starbucks tea bags out of the deal so I felt like it was worth it! When I got home, Dave and the kids were doing the giant puzzle and had discovered that it had an entire puzzle to be coloured on the opposite side.

Sam coloured while Dave put Rachel to bed and I did some dishes.

After Sam was in bed, Dave made some nachos for us and we watched...ummm, five... episodes of Modern Family.

After that action packed day, where I was actually in my pajamas until 5pm when we had to leave for the preschool party (!), I went to bed.

And this ends my Week In The Life of intensive blogging. Thanks for following along with my oh-so-exciting happenings :)

Friday, November 22, 2013

Yesterday morning began with Sam bounding into our room at 7:37am announcing, "I'm going to school today and can I still have a popsicle for breakfast?" We decided to indulge him since he seemed his normal self and then Rachel, not wanting to be left out, demanded one too. And there was where we made our fatal parenting flaw. The combination of two popsicles and a healthy Sam led to much excitement and non-listening from the kids and much threatening and yelling from us. It was not our finest parenting morning, shall we say??? I made every bad parenting mistake I hate to do including making unrealistic threats and offering to sell our kids (to a friend who had spent the night and has now decided to never have kids - ha!), not to mention the yelling. It was not one of our better mornings.

Eventually I got the kids out the door and into the car and drove Sam to school. I dropped him off and then rushed Rachel to preschool. I spent some time picking out a book for Rachel's teachers to give her as a gift and doing some treasurer stuff. Then I hit the Tim Horton's drive-thru and headed home with my large coffee-hot chocolate.

I made myself a bagel and decided to listen to my blog friend, Bekah's morning show which I streamed online. (Hi Bekah!). While I thought about the last time I cried "tears of joy" (one of the topics of the show), I cleaned the bathroom and Rachel's room. Whoo hoo!!! (I don't often spend my "free mornings" cleaning but it's getting to be desperate times around here with regards to the cleanliness of our house.)

I also took my first, and likely last, mirror selfie to show off my awesome cleaning look. Then I ran an errand for the preschool and picked up Rachel. We came home and I found her "Jolly Phonics" songs, which she has been learning in preschool and wanting us to sing at home, on Youtube. Yay! Rachel was quite thrilled to hear her "preschool songs!!!" at home and was mesmerized for quite awhile.

While she ate lunch, I folded some laundry (it's never-ending around here) and cleaned our bedroom. I was a cleaning machine yesterday. Then I put Rachel down for nap, after she spent some time on the potty. I'm halfheartedly attempting to train her and will likely make a concerted effort to get it done in the next month or so. Wish us luck!

Rachel insisted on lying on her "bed" on her rug, and miracle of miracles, she actually fell asleep there. She is an odd duck. While she was napping, I took our yard waste out to the curb, including bundling all the sticks from our cedar hedge trim last week, cleaned the dining room and talked with Janice for quite awhile.

Then I woke up Rachel and we picked up Sam from school. I decided to get a picture of the broken toilet we pass Every. Single. Day. on our way to and from school. It's been there for about a month and a half. Every time Rachel yells, "Toilet!!!" as if it's the most exciting thing ever. She does this four times a day without fail.

As I was walking by a neighbour's house, I noticed they had a HUGE box on their front lawn. On the way home from school, there was a workman outside the house and I asked what was happening to the box. He said he was going to cut it up for recycling. We brought it home instead. You guys, this box is HUGE. It is from a bathtub.

We got home and Sam and Rachel played iPad while I jumped in the shower. Then Sam and Rachel each had another popsicle while I sorted through the weekly flyers looking for good deals. And drank a Coke.

Dave got home and we headed straight off to LOGOS, our church's mid-week program. Dave sets the tables for dinner while I am a table parent (an adult who eats supper with the kids) for the Grade 7s and 8s. Rachel sits with me. Sam and Rachel also get to hang out with all their friends in the nursery. Today I sat with the grade 8s, we had taco salad (yum yum), and we played table sports. It was a lot of fun. Then I talked with people while Sam and Rachel played (and Rachel somehow ended up with green marker all over her face!), and Dave ran some errands.

We came home and Dave and I dragged the box inside. I'd only been able to get it into the garage by myself earlier. Sam, Rachel and I all played in the box for a few minutes. I have to confess, I am claustrophobic and this box is so big, Sam, Rachel and I could be in it with the lid closed and it was roomy.

I put the kids to bed while Dave headed out to play Rock Band with some of his workmates. I was going to catch up on reading blogs but I decided to check out Sam's backpack. I found out he wore "indoor shoes" outside and they were completely muddy. So I spent my blog reading time, scraping mud off his shoes instead. sigh.

So that was my Thursday. It involved a lot less sickness and a lot more cleaning and more enormous boxes than Wednesday.